Exhaust

Stephen

It looks like the exhaust on my '99 Virago 125 is on the way out. Its sounding louder and I think its suffered a loss in compression, making a slow bike even slower!

Anyone know approximately how much it will cost to get a replacement and have it fitted? I rely on this bike to get me to and from work (12 miles each way, 5 days a week).

Cheers.

Stephen

bump... anyone?

*putting this off as much as possible*

seamus

Seems you could be paying anywhere upto €150. Brief google shows Yamaha Exhausts for around STG£60.

Fit it yourself. Save loads of money on labour.

Stephen

I've no idea how. I'm afraid my mechanical expertise is pretty much limited to performing oil changes and oiling the chain now and then. Any tips?

seamus

Originally posted by Stephen
I've no idea how. I'm afraid my mechanical expertise is pretty much limited to performing oil changes and oiling the chain now and then. Any tips?

Have a look at your exhaust, and all the bolts that hold it on. Remove it and put it back on. Easy Peasy*
Just make sure you tighten all the bolts up good n firm


*I take no responsibilty for anything

rymus

Use your new best friend, WD40, on absolutely everything. Spray all the bolts that hold on the exhaust with it, leave it a bit and then take a spanner to them. After you remove the few that connect a mounting bracket on the exhaust to the bike itself, it should be a case of wiggling the muffler until it comes off.

Is it just the muffler thats on the way out or is it further up the exhaust? You may be able to pick up mufflers online, although don't quote me on that. I only say that as I used to see loads of mufflers for drag stars for sale. You shouldn't have any major drama's changing exhaust, just make sure you've got plenty of holy water, err I mean WD40.

sutty

Originally posted by seamus
Seems you could be paying anywhere upto €150. Brief google shows Yamaha Exhausts for around STG£60.

Fit it yourself. Save loads of money on labour.

up it by about €100 and you'd be more in the right price range. Sadly Spec Yamaha parts are very expensive. I have to replace the Ignichin unit on my Dragstar 250 as someone tryed to nick it and bent the steering lock. The Yamaha part cost €160 from Megabikes. Thankfuly they had an other maunfactor that costs €90 with very little differance between the two.

seamus

Originally posted by sutty
up it by about €100 and you'd be more in the right price range. Sadly Spec Yamaha parts are very expensive. I have to replace the Ignichin unit on my Dragstar 250 as someone tryed to nick it and bent the steering lock. The Yamaha part cost €160 from Megabikes. Thankfuly they had an other maunfactor that costs €90 with very little differance between the two.

Seems to be the case with a lot of stuff.
The Suzuki centre on North circular road stocks genuine suzuki parts, and you pay for it. Mountjoy Motorcycles stock generic stuff that fits properly. An oil filter in Suzuki - €15. In Mountjoy - €5. A chain/sprockets set in Suzuki - €105. In Mountjoy - €75.

It definitely pays to shop around for generic components, expecially when they're consumables like filters, chains, sprockets, brake pads, etc.

Stephen

Originally posted by rymus
Use your new best friend, WD40, on absolutely everything. Spray all the bolts that hold on the exhaust with it, leave it a bit and then take a spanner to them. After you remove the few that connect a mounting bracket on the exhaust to the bike itself, it should be a case of wiggling the muffler until it comes off.

Is it just the muffler thats on the way out or is it further up the exhaust? You may be able to pick up mufflers online, although don't quote me on that. I only say that as I used to see loads of mufflers for drag stars for sale. You shouldn't have any major drama's changing exhaust, just make sure you've got plenty of holy water, err I mean WD40.

No idea what's on the way out, I really know nothing about these things! All I know is that its making more noise

rymus

I know this probably isnt what you want to hear... but if that happened to me and I had no idea about what exactly was wrong or how to go about fixing it I'd bring it to my usual repairs crowd/dealer. It'll cost you, but at least it'll get fixed.

Stephen

Yeah, that's the plan at the moment.